


There's no escape (from loving you)

by moonflows



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Hyungki being a mess compared to this fic., Kihyun isn't any better, Love Confessions, M/M, Minhyuk is fed up with their shit, Mutual Pining, Pining, and from my wips maybe., escape room, hyungwon is whipped, i swear i just really needed to get this out of my system, last part is unbetad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25350409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonflows/pseuds/moonflows
Summary: Hyungwon and Kihyun joined Minhyuk in an escape room completely forgetting that the dark heightens their senses.... and maybe their feelings too.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Yoo Kihyun
Comments: 8
Kudos: 76





	There's no escape (from loving you)

**Author's Note:**

> this is an excuse to finally put out a hyungki fic from the sea of hyungki wips that i plan on finishing. i swear, there's more fics in store.. might become a frequent hyungki writer :)  
>  _also an excuse to release an escape room scene that i had for a long time._  
>  anyway enjoy!  
> [ twt ](https://twitter.com/moonfiows)

If you’re going to ask Chae Hyungwon of the things he _could_ do, it would take a long time for him to list them down. For one, a lot of people had told him that he’s attractive, tall, and fit– above the average if Hyungwon could say. He could dance really well. Though working out isn’t in his dictionary, he could still play some sports really well. He’s a little shit in playing games, but he’s still decent. Hyungwon is very close to his family and a lot of people like him. Or that’s what he knows. 

But if you’re going to ask Hyungwon what he _couldn’t_ do, it would be professing his undying feelings for the one and only Yoo Kihyun. 

Now, they’re friends, that’s a big given. They see each other often because of their friend Minhyuk and they’re comfortable with each other’s presence. They’re friends even if Hyungwon wishes they were more. 

But then again, Hyungwon would never have the balls to confess to Kihyun. 

Until one day. 

It was in the middle of summer where the day is longer than the night. Where it is preferred to stay at home and just not move if you don’t want to pay for a high electricity bill all because of the air conditioning. 

But that day, for some reason, Kihyun was able to gather them all together because of an _emergency_ Minhyuk had that required them to leave their houses. His roommate, Hyunwoo, laughed at his face because Kihyun really chose a date when the heat was the worst and Hyungwon couldn’t speak of anything about it.

Hyungwon was already with Minhyuk at a café where they waited for their other friend to arrive and Hyungwon tried to think of something to lighten up Minhyuk’s glum expression. 

“He’s a dick you know,” Hyungwon manages to speak in an attempt to comfort his friend, “You deserve the best.” 

Minhyuk lets out a sigh, “That’s what they all say.” 

“I have nothing better to say.” 

That _emergency_ being Minhyuk breaking up with his boyfriend, _now ex-boyfriend_ and with that being said, friends should always be there to the rescue. Their relationship actually lasted for a long time until it reached a point where Hyungwon couldn’t hang out as much with his friend anymore. Hyungwon would only feel that Minhyuk existed whenever he and his boyfriend would argue. But it’s no big deal to Hyungwon because he promised he would always be there for his friend and Minhyuk would always be there either way whenever Hyungwon would need him too. 

And Hyungwon spent so much time with Kihyun during that time so who is Hyungwon to complain?

The bell of the café chimed, a familiar figure appeared, Minhyuk’s eyebrows met looking at Hyungwon and then to Kihyun, “I wasn’t given the memo of white shirt and denim.” Minhyuk teases making Hyungwon look at Kihyun who had finally arrived.

Hyungwon let out a small chuckle seeing that him and Kihyun were both wearing the same thing, “It’s a go to fit.” Kihyun comments, taking a seat on the empty chair across Hyungwon. Hyungwon motions towards the drink that they bought for him before arriving and Kihyun mumbles a quiet thank you, letting out an exasperated sigh, “I can’t believe the heat outside, I feel like dying.” 

“What are we doing again?” Hyungwon finally asks, Kihyun shoving his phone to show the e-ticket of the chosen activity. He takes the phone from his hand, _ignoring the way their hands brushed,_ eyes widening at the details, “Are you fucking serious?”

* * *

“Are you _really_ sure about this?” Hyungwon asked his friend over and over again hoping they would back out at this stupid plan of making Minhyuk forget about his ex-boyfriend who dumped his beautiful face, verbatim from Minhyuk. 

The building wasn’t far from the café where they had met but Hyungwon hoped that time dragged longer so they would miss the time-slot that Kihyun paid for. 

“Stop asking about it.” Kihyun snapped, finding his own composure, “As if asking about it would make a change. Minhyuk already made reservations. There is no escape for this one.” He trailed off and cracked a laugh at his own choice of words, “No pun intended.” 

Minhyuk turned to glare at Hyungwon, “Wasn’t this your idea?” He reminded the youngest, “You said before you wanted to try an escape room but we never really had the time. And Kihyun said trying new things can help people forget. Now, we are here at an escape room _for fun.”_

“I think he just said escape room,” Kihyun answered on behalf of the scared one, “He didn’t say _horror_ escape room.” 

“Well it was the only available room for today!” Minhyuk raised his hands up in his own defence, “You two were so hard to gather I had to make a decision.” 

Hyungwon knew there was no way he could get out of this unexpected challenge. Sighing, he swallowed his own fears and said, “Let’s go.” 

They walked down the streets of _Hongdae_ finally reaching the building where Minhyuk made a reservation for an escape room. The door chimes rang as they got inside the establishment where they were greeted by a nicely decorated front desk. “Welcome!” The lady said with a bright smile on her face. 

“Reservation for Lee Minhyuk?” Minhyuk spoke hesitantly, feeling terrified because they were there, “For the Dark Room?” 

“Oh, yes.” The lady confirmed from her computer, “Here, I’ll have Changkyun here to explain to you a couple of things before we begin.”

The young man standing next to her turned to them and led them to a confined area full of lockers, “You can leave all of your belongings here especially your phones because those are not allowed inside the room.” 

Not really having much, the three left their phones inside the locker. Kihyun kept the key inside one of the many pockets of the cargo pants that he was wearing. Minhyuk was still trying to compose himself and Kihyun was trying to hold his terrified self inside. 

Hyungwon could definitely see through Kihyun who was trying to keep his composure, so he started drawing circles on the back of his friend in an attempt to calm him down, “Just remember it’s not real.”

Out of the three, Hyungwon remained the most calm but in reality, he hates anything that is horror and experiencing something so horrific first hand wasn’t really likely for him. And to add up to that, Hyungwon _hates_ the dark _._ Minhyuk was slowly showing the fear as they near the said room, holding on to Kihyun who felt the same. 

“I’ll just explain a few safety measures before we go in,” Changkyun spoke again, catching the attention of the three who seemed lost in their own thoughts, “You’ll only be given an hour to get out of the room. There would be a screen inside the room showing the time to keep you updated. We will be watching you from the CCTV camera and would be giving hints in case there is no progress. If ever you want to end the game, just wave at the camera.”

Minhyuk, Hyungwon and Kihyun listened carefully to the instruction as Minhyuk’s face lit up at the fact that they can easily end the game in case they get too scared. “We won’t wave.” Kihyun spoke, “I paid a lot so we’ll try to finish this.” 

Changkyun could only laugh at the customer’s dedication of making the money spent worth the time, “There are some items that you can’t touch. They have a small x on them. These items are irrelevant and are used for decorations only. Lastly, they can touch you but you can’t touch them. Do you have any questions?” 

“Lastly, what?” Hyungwon asked for clarifications as the staff only smiled, “Who can touch us?” 

“Are you ready to go inside now?” Changkyun said, ignoring Hyungwon’s clarification. Whereas, Kihyun and Minhyuk were already shaking in fear because they understood exactly what Changkyun meant. 

The three were asked to fall in line and wear blindfolds as Changkyun led them to their room. Kihyun’s grip was tight against Hyungwon’s hand as they could hear another person’s scream from the other escape room. “This is such a dumb way to forget.” Minhyuk kept on whining as Kihyun gripped his shoulder tighter.

Their short walk suddenly came to a halt, “You can remove your blind fold.” Changkyun said.

Hyungwon’s breathing became heavier every second that passed and came to a complete stop when he was greeted by a dark and creepy bedroom setting. “Watch the introduction on the screen and please remember the safety measures.” were Changkyun’s last words before he locked the three of them inside the room. 

The screen suddenly glitched showing cut clips of a child running towards a room and being locked inside– exactly what they are experiencing now. The room on the screen was dark as it slowly turned red and the countdown began as their time started.

“I suddenly regret agreeing to this.” was the first thing Hyungwon said when their time started. 

One thing Hyungwon hates the most of the dark is how most of your senses are heightened. You suddenly start noticing and feeling things that are mostly not real and Hyungwon has to remind himself that _it’s not real._

The three of them were standing in the middle of the room as the clock kept on ticking. The room was dark and their only source of light was the light emitted from the screen of the timer. “They didn’t give us any flashlight or something?” Minhyuk complained.

Hyungwon’s entire body was frozen as his eyes scanned around the room. It was a typical child bedroom, bed full of stuffed toys and walls plastered with drawings. A closet that was half opened that made it not seem like a normal child’s room as the stuffed toy looked torn and the drawings were definitely unusual as well. 

“Are you okay?” Kihyun asked beside him as he gave him a hesitant nod. Kihyun managed to slip his warm hands against Hyungwon’s, rubbing small circles on the back of his hand.

He knew eventually, he would need to get over this fear to get somewhere. Seeing that Kihyun was _mostly_ calm about the current situation gave a little boost to Hyungwon as he walked towards the wall with a switch, flicking the light open and giving them a brighter surrounding. “So, clues?” Hyungwon confidently said when he could finally see his friends’ faces clearly, not really expecting that the light would actually turn on.

They all started to look for clues, searching through every place as possible. Three numbered locks caught their eyes as they knew they needed to open those. 

“We need to find numbers?” Minhyuk said, opening the drawers and stalling by the closet near the door they first entered, “This is one scary closet.” 

With Kihyun comforting a very scared Minhyuk, Hyungwon was trying to get as many clues as he could. Seeing a couple of photos by the bedside table that has numbers and dates, another set of locks that they have to face.

He continued to mess the room up, removing the covers of the sheets that revealed more of the stuffed toy he had seen with a hidden photo that had more numbers. Kihyun, on the other hand, was trying to use the dates on the lock but most of them didn’t work. 

“H-How about under the bed?” A shaking Minhyuk suggested, Hyungwon glared at him but he knew that he should at least check in case there was something. 

Getting all the courage he has, Hyungwon slowly crouched to look under the bed. In his mind, he expected someone hiding to scare him but there was none. 

Or that was what he thought until the lights suddenly turned off.

They all screamed and Hyungwon closed his eyes tight. Scared shitless as if it was what was supposed to happen. “What the fuck, is there someone under the bed?” Minhyuk asked, clutching stronger to Kihyun. On the other hand, Hyungwon didn’t expect himself to be holding on for dear life on Kihyun’s leg. “I heard they close the lights if ever there’s no progress made.” Minhyuk recalled what his friend, who had visited told him.

“That Changkyun kid said they help. Not scare you shitless.” Kihyun groaned, shaking away Minhyuk to help Hyungwon who was on the floor, scared.

Now, Hyungwon’s bravery suddenly transferred to Kihyun after seeing the other scared when the lights went out. Kihyun walked towards the light switch again, bringing back on the lights. “The date worked for one of the locks. It gave us a magnet.” He announced, showing the magnet claimed. “Maybe it will attract some other clues?”

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Initial instinct was to scream in fear but it opened showing Changkyun, who was probably waiting outside. “You guys need help?” Hyungwon, who was still trying to compose himself, eagerly nodded. Changkyun took the magnet from Kihyun and pressed it against the wall. “There are clues on this side of the room.” He said, playfully dragging the magnet but not spilling anything else. “Also, note the numbers in the drawings. You’re closer than you think.”

With that, he gave back the magnet to Kihyun and left them. 

Kihyun, who obviously got the clue, tried to stick the magnet everywhere on the side of the room. Even to the extent of stepping on the now messy bed, until he noticed the painting on the wall that had numbers on them. 

“Try sticking them on the numbers.” Hyungwon suggested, holding Kihyun’s hand for support while he was on the bed. “I don’t think it's needed? There are numbers here that look like it was marked by a strong impact.” He pointed out, “Five.... One..Zero…Four?” 

Minhyuk tried the numbers but it didn’t work. “Try a different combination. Try 0514?” Hyungwon ordered Minhyuk while supporting Kihyun who was attempting to stick the magnet on the frame. 

And it did work. The magnet gets attracted to certain numbers, which he determined by the deep marks. As he placed the magnet on the last number, a strong wind hit his face and the magnet dropped to the floor losing the attraction.

In that same moment, Minhyuk opened the next lock of a box that revealed a creepy drawing of a spider looking monster. It was big enough to fill the entire page as its legs spread to the edges. The paper only had a mix of the colours black and red indicating that this monster had probably killed someone so there was blood. Other than that, the paper had the number three on the corner just like every other drawing that was pasted on the walls.

Recalling what Changkyun had said, Hyungwon analysed the drawings, noticing the numbers from one to four appeared on the corners of all drawings. “What could possibly be in this drawing could give us numbers?”

“Number of people?” Minhyuk suggested trying it out for the lock but it didn’t work. 

“How about the number of the legs of the monster that appeared on each drawing?” Kihyun said, trying it out on his own.

And what they hope was the final lock, was unlocked. It was a lock of a cabinet that had revealed a walkie-talkie. 

“A-Are we gonna talk to the dea—”

Minhyuk’s scary thought was cut off by a static that startled all three of them. Kihyun’s hand was shaking by merely holding the walkie-talkie where the sound came from.

 _“Find another way out.”_ A deep and scary voice ordered from the walkie-talkie. _“Close the lights and go inside the closet.”_

“No fucking way?” Minhyuk exclaimed, clutching once again to Kihyun. Kihyun almost dropped the walkie-talkie as his palms started to sweat from the scare.

“Ki....?” Hyungwon whispered, hoping he would take the lead, “I’m fucking scared.”

Kihyun, sucking all of the last courage he had, with one hand gripping tight on the walkie-talkie while the other was still holding Hyungwon’s, walking towards the light switch to switch it off. Their last source of light came from the dimmed timer on the television that showed 15 minutes. 

“On the count of three.” Kihyun led the other two inside the empty and dark closet, “One… Two… Three.”

Getting inside was a big step, as they waited for the next instruction. Kihyun was able to turn on a small flashlight from the walkie-talkie making the empty closet not too dark but Hyungwon couldn’t manage to make up the faces of his friends.

 _“Close the door.”_ The person from the walkie-talkie said again. To which Minhyuk unconsciously responded with a : “No fucking way.”

But it triggered the person even more as he growled, _“Close the door!”_

Scared of the voice, Hyungwon forced himself to close the door, saying goodbye to the small light offered by the television. 

Hyungwon wants to cry. Being inside a small confined space was suffocating him as he started to shake. He couldn’t see Kihyun nor Minhyuk but he could feel all of his senses starting to pick up things that he shouldn’t. 

_“Find another way out.”_

“How the fuck will we find another way out if it’s dark?!” Minhyuk whined, now clutching to Hyungwon. Minhyuk started feeling the walls but Hyungwon remained frozen on his feet. Noticing the youngest, Minhyuk smartly opened the door once again, giving them back the light source of the television.

“T-There’s an obvious door here.” Kihyun pointed out as he started to feel the wall across the door of the closet. “And there’s a small hole. I tried poking it, but it didn't open?”

“Try to push it more.” Minhyuk, who had been ordering around for the last forty-five minutes, _ordered._

Whereas, Hyungwon tried to claim the magnet again, alone, from the previous room they were in. He saw his reflection quickly from the mirror on the dresser which made him run faster back to the closet. He gave Kihyun the claimed magnet, trying to attract something from the small hole. A _click_ was heard as a small opening of the door was revealed. 

_“Get inside.”_ The person from the walkie-talkie spoke again and Kihyun mentally noted to scream at that Changkyun kid because he could feel that it was the other who was trying to imitate a scary monster through the walkie-talkie.

Kihyun pulled the door open, revealing a darker room. A red light flourished in the room, coming from an _Exit_ sign above another door. “I guess that’s our way out?” Hyungwon hoped. 

Finally, Hyungwon could see the outline of Kihyun’s face shining from the dimmed red light. He was looking at him. Though Hyungwon’s mind is heavily distracted by fear, he could still feel Kihyun’s hands comforting him and that’s the only thing that’s getting him through this game.

With a deep sigh, they all got inside leaving the closet door open to keep track on the time they had left. 

_10 minutes._

It suffocated Hyungwon to think that they were inside a damned dark and empty closet for a wholeass five minutes before they got out to an even scarier looking room.

It was another room but smaller than the last one. It had another dresser that was filled with toys and a weird looking blanket that seemed to be set up as a tent. 

_Who knows what’s behind that blanket._

_“Play with me.”_ The voice spoke one more time that scared Hyungwon and Kihyun the most, making them stick their backs to the door. No plans of moving anytime soon. 

“Fuck.” Minhyuk swore, “Fuck fuck fuck someone is going to jump at us.” 

Hyungwon, _finally understanding what Changkyun’s caution meant that they could touch you but you couldn’t touch them,_ lost his last sense of bravery, “Ah shit.” 

_“Play with me!”_ The voice growled even more, making Kihyun push Minhyuk farther to the room, handing him the walkie-talkie because it’s his time to do something after ordering them a lot.

Hyungwon, who was wondering what could be on the other side of the blanket, decided to throw the magnet that he claimed. 

Nothing.

“S-Shouldn’t there be a sound of the wood?” Minhyuk reminded him, knowing that it should’ve fell down the wooden floor and made a sound but there was none. 

“M-Maybe there’s a bed,” Kihyun tried to reason out.

The door behind them suddenly moved, the door knob trying to be opened from the other side, startling the two who had their backs rested against it. Unconsciously wrapping their arms around each other for safety. 

“I just want to go home!” Hyungwon cried out, clutching hard to Kihyun who probably wanted the same thing. He tried managing his breathing but the sounds were becoming louder in his head, all of his senses high enough to make him lose his shit. 

Finally in the comfort of Kihyun’s arms, Hyungwon randomly remembered the doll that was in the picture that had the number of the first lock, “T-That doll,” He managed to say, “I think it’s that doll.”

“Min… We could just stop here. We only have two minutes left.” Kihyun suggested, feeling the fear radiating from the other who was trying to finish the game. “We’ve gone far already.”

“Just hold the flashlight.” He ordered giving the walkie-talkie to Kihyun that had the small amount of light. 

Minhhyuk successfully got the doll mentioned, trying to position it to the shadow casted on the small cabinet beside the dresser of toys. When it was positioned, another click was heard in time with a loud scream inside the room they were in. 

Hyungwon cursed, tightening his grip on Kihyun, who was watching Minhyuk claim a key from the cabinet that had opened.

And as if on cue, the blanket dropped with a person covered in black screaming at them, running towards Minhyuk who was shaking with the key, staring at them deeply.

Minhyuk screamed back at him, almost punching the paid actor but luckily Kihyun was able to contain his hands, stealing the key from him as they were closer to the door.

The _monster_ stared at Kihyun and key at hand but Kihyun didn’t move an inch, after hearing the countdown from thirty seconds.

 _“Play with me.”_ The person from the walkie-talkie spoke again, in time with the monster’s mouth. Minhyuk threw the doll to the other side of the room that caught the _monster's_ attention, following the doll, before running towards the door and unlocking it with the key Kihyun handed to him back again. 

“Congratulations!” Changkyun welcomed them when the final door was unlocked by Kihyun. “I thought you guys wouldn’t make it in the last thirty seconds.” 

Suddenly, the lights inside the dark room turned on. Revealing a more eerie look of the room because of the blood looking painted walls. The “monster” who ran after the doll disappeared from the corner where Minhyuk threw the doll.

“I’m glad you didn’t punch our friend.” Changkyun said, holding the still enclosed fists of Minhyuk. “But I’m glad you made it out!”

Letting out a deep sigh, Minhyuk looked back at his friends who were still silent despite escaping– only to see Hyungwon still catching his breath and a wide-eyed Kihyun, whose hands were still intertwined together.

“You...,” Minhyuk says, a finger pointing at his friend’s hands, “You two enjoying holding hands?”

Hyungwon, finally back to his senses, got a last look at his left hand intertwined with Kihyun’s before the latter pulled away from Minhyuk’s comment, letting out a small sound as his cheeks blushed, standing farther from each other.

“Oh?” Changkyun interrupted as if he was a part of the conversation, “Aren’t they together? They looked cute when you were still inside the room.”

The stranger’s comment made Kihyun blush even more and Hyungwon froze on his spot. Minhyuk’s lips curve into a smirk, making the last comment, “Wait until those feelings finally escape from their mouth.”

* * *

Now, If you ask Hyungwon how he’s doing an hour after coming out of the escape room, it would be a long list of emotional baggage that he is carrying. For one, he could still feel the rush of the room running through his veins. It’s a given that he would never go to a _horror_ escape room ever again.

Second, Minhyuk managed to make their atmosphere so awkward by implying his feelings for Kihyun. And Hyungwon realised how stupid he was to tell him.

“Shit, do you remember when the lights suddenly turned off and Hyungwon hugged your legs?” Minhyuk excitedly talked about what had happened over dinner in an attempt to push away the situation he had brought upon them. 

“Stop acting like you weren’t scared the entire hour.” Hyungwon retorted, taking a bite of meat, “Kihyun and I did most of the job and all you did was order us and cry.”

“But I had fun,” Minhyuk responded in a thankful tone.

Though they almost risked their life and probably will have nightmares when they sleep because of the memory, Hyungwon felt proud that he was able to help his friend forget the heartbreak he had. 

The night was still young and they had no plans of going home soon. Kihyun was busy grilling the meat for them, while they listened to Minhyuk reminiscing more of the memories inside the escape room. The rush they all felt was still new that telling the story over and over again would make it seem like the first time.

Kihyun knew the night wouldn’t end soon the moment Minhyuk ordered _soju_ for the three of them. Knowing that Minhyuk would be the one wasted for the night, he and Hyungwon mentally agreed to look over their friend.

“Ki, where did you get the strength earlier? It’s like you weren’t scared at all!” Minhyuk gazed at Kihyun but he just rolled his eyes.

“I was scared, you dimwit! I just didn’t show it because it would be a waste of time to get scared the entire time.” 

_“You sure_?” Minhyuk teased, making the other not give him meat, “I’m pretty sure you were holding on to Hyungwon for dear life in the last few minutes.”

“Better than getting scared because the lights went off.” 

“Ki, just shut up.” Hyungwon pouted, a little embarrassed for clutching on to his friend’s leg and losing his shit the rest of the game.

It didn’t take that long until Minhyuk’s laughs filled the restaurant, too drunk to even process what he was saying. After downing five bottles of _soju_ , despite the meat intake, Minhyuk had finally left the two. 

They decided to end the dinner there— Kihyun paying for their dinner and drinks using Minhyuk’s credit card before the start of their journey dragging Minhyuk home. 

“I reaaaaaaallyyyyyyyyy hate him.” He slurred, gripping onto his friends who weren’t even halfway drunk as him, “How could he leave my ass alone for someone else?” 

“He’s not worth your time.” Kihyun groaned, feeling the weight of Minhyuk get heavier in each step. 

“I know that!” Minhyuk whined, “but I still _wuv_ him.”

“Jooheon exists.” Hyungwon commented, knowing his friend wouldn’t probably remember what he said.

“But he talked shit about my baby.” 

“He’s your best friend. He knows the best for you.” Kihyun shrugged off Minhyuk’s weight more to Hyungwon so the other could add more to the idea. “Y-Yeah. I think you should date him instead.” Hyungwon randomly pushed.

Minhyuk could only laugh, “If you think I should date Joo then I think you and Ki should date too. Even the staff thought you guys were together.” 

The mentioned just laughed at the drunken comment of the drunken one– well, mostly Hyungwon because there is no way Kihyun would date him. 

“You’re really drunk then.” Kihyun commented, hailing a cab to Minhyuk’s apartment.

The ride wasn’t quiet because Minhyuk was still throwing out some drunken words to the driver of how much he hates his ex-boyfriend but the silence filled Hyungwon and Kihyun’s atmosphere. To say that it became awkward between them after what Minhyuk said is an understatement because they kept their friend in between them so they were not sitting next to each other. 

Hyungwon messaged Jooheon that they were on their way to the apartment and to their luck, the younger was still awake even though it was in the middle of the night.

“Honey!” Minhyuk jumped to his friend’s arms after seeing him when they got out of the cab, “What are you doing here?”

“To pick your dumb ass up,” Jooheon struggled to carry the weight of his friend, “Thanks hyungs?”

“They really are cute together.” Kihyun whispered and Hyungwon smiled, admiring the two struggling their way to the lift, hearing Minhyuk whine to Jooheon about how scary the monster in the escape room was.

Kihyun saw that it was already one in the morning. Though it wasn’t too obvious, he probably drank enough to make his head hurt at this time. “You live near right?” Kihyun asked Hyungwon who was checking his phone as well. The other shook his head, realising the trouble of getting home when the trains were already closed, “Do you want to come over?” Kihyun adds, making Hyungwon look at him.

“Huh?” Hyungwon blurted out, not expecting an invite.

“Hoseok just messaged that he is at a friend’s place. I thought you might be too tired to go to your place, which is far from here.” Kihyun reasoned out, “Also, I want to drink more…? I haven’t drank much. Minhyuk cut off my drinking night.” 

Chuckling at the unexpected reason, Hyungwon nodded in agreement, “Maybe I, do too, need a shot or two as well.” 

They started to walk to Kihyun’s place, which was amusingly close to Minhyuk’s. It made Hyungwon realise why the two became close too fast. 

“Exes are shit, huh?” Kihyun mumbled, trying to make conversation after a while in their short walk.

“I wouldn’t know.” Hyungwon could only respond with a shrug, remembering how his last heartbreak was too long ago to even remember because when he stepped into university, he was too focused with classes. “How about you? Shitty exes existed?”

“Lots.” He laughed as they arrived at Kihyun's apartment building. “Shitty exes equates to a shitty life experience.” 

“Don’t say that.” Hyungwon whispered with a small voice, “At least they were a part of your life even if it was just a short period of time.”

Kihyun simply looked back at him with a smile, before pressing his floor on the button of the lift. “You really believe that, huh?” 

“I just think Minhyuk would get over his ex as soon as he realises that Jooheon had always been the best choice for him.” Hyungwon shrugged letting his throbbing and intoxicated brain do the talking.

Arriving at the floor, Hyungwon could remember the steps to his apartment. He’s been there before but to study, where he had met Hoseok, Kihyun’s roommate who seemed to be the opposite of Kihyun’s quiet personality. 

Kihyun welcomed him to the shared apartment as he decided to sit by the couch. For some reason, Kihyun and Hoseok had some emergency bottles of _soju_ hidden in the crisper of their fridge. “We have a lot, how many do you need?” 

“Depends to what extent we are drinking?” Hyungwon chuckled, Kihyun putting two bottles next to him.

“Let’s just say, we’ll get drunk for Minhyuk?” 

He pushed the couch a little to give them enough space to sit on the floor of their living room. By that time, Hyungwon had started to take shots of his drinks without realising that this is the first time he would be drinking with Kihyun.

It was a big leap to their strictly academic friendship. Hyungwon’s mind is starting to get fazed. “You’re going through something too?” Hyungwon randomly blurted, “Seems like it if you wanted to drink.”

“Can’t I drink for fun?” Kihyun said, downing a shot, “You don’t always have to have a reason. Maybe you’re the one with a reason.”

Hyungwon paused, looking around the familiar apartment pretending to think, “Maybe I do?”

“Hmm?”

“Can’t say,” Hyungwon smiles, cheeks all puffed. But in reality, his mind is burdened by how much he wants to tell Kihyun right now that he likes him and he could just shrug it off as a drunken mistake.

“We haven’t really drank together, right?” Kihyun asks in realisation, “It’s always with Minhyuk.”

“Are we even close?” Hyungwon teases, Kihyun shrugging with a teasing smile in return. 

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

It wasn’t too long when the living room was filled with random laughter of random memories they had in the past few months Minhyuk wasn’t hanging out with them that much– realising their awkward lunch breaks just to have someone to eat with but most of the time they were simply silent.

“Maybe the next time we go out for lunch, Minhyuk would consider it as a date.” Kihyun randomly blurted out through the laughters but Hyungwon was quick to catch on.

“Did you say date?”

“Date? Who said date?” Kihyun says slowly, eyes heavy lidded already.

Hyungwon inhales, “You said date.”

“Friends can date.” Kihyun answered shakily, mentally cursing his drunk self for blurting out the word _date,_ “I meant Minhyuk would think so since he was trying to push the agenda of _us_ dating.”

Hyungwon is trying hard to read Kihyun right now because he didn’t really expect that topic would come out once again in the middle of their drinking session.. Or maybe Hyungwon did but he didn’t expect it to be coming out from Kihyun again.

The surrounding that was once filled with laughter turned into an awkward tension with a mix of intoxicated words that weren’t really supposed to be said.

“So…” Hyungwon trailed off, forgetting (read: moving on from) the aforementioned word, “Any other stories you want to tell?”

Kihyun sniffs, feeling the cold of the night rush into his body, “Questions, perhaps.” He answers, “Perhaps why I wanted to drink with you too.”

“Ask away.” He doesn’t reveal any emotion. Not even scared of what the other might ask because one way or another, he could always say it's the alcohol talking after downing his fourth bottle for the night and opening the fifth. Whereas Kihyun was probably still decently sober after four bottles. 

“Are we playing twenty questions now?” Kihyun chuckled at how Hyungwon is probably drunk enough to speak sober words.

“Twenty is too much. Just five.” says Hyungwon, holding out his hand showing his five fingers before downing another shot. 

“Five it is then. Who starts?” 

“You go.”

“Do you want to date me?” 

Hyungwon almost spat the liquid he drank at the random question the other had asked. “What?”

“What Minhyuk and that staff said….. Are you bothered by it?” Kihyun admitted randomly with a chuckle, perhaps the alcohol talking on his side. “Like… I didn’t know why but I guess I’m just wondering? What are your thoughts on it?”

Hyungwon held his breath, not knowing what to say. He let his heart do the talking anyway. “I mean… Not really bothered by something I’d want to happen.” Hyungwon finally confesses, “Do _you_ want to date me?”

They felt the breeze of the night through the opened window from the kitchen. Laughs filled the air at the randomly blurted confessions of two drunk friends in the middle of the living room.

It amused Hyungwon how light the two of them are taking the situation. Or that’s what he thinks because he feels light and not really afraid of just speaking his mind. There would always be a first to every friendship and this would probably be the first and last they get drunk around each other. 

“Is that your question out of five?” Kihyun jokes, dodging the fact that Hyungwon somewhat admitted that he likes Kihyun.

“Says the person who asks one thing with a lot of follow ups” Hyungwon huffs, pouring another shot on Kihyun’s glass.

“You make me do such things,” He mumbles, showing the glass before downing it, “You need to answer them before I answer yours, Chae.” 

“I already answered you.”

“You didn’t answer the main question.”

Hyungwon tries to recall what Kihyun had asked and thinks that he must be drunk enough to think that Kihyun asked such. Kihyun looked at him in the eyes with so much anticipation, or that’s what he thinks. So he sucks it up and decides to be honest, “Yes.” 

“It’s a yes for me too, then,” Kihyun calmly responds to his question despite his hint that he has feelings for the latter, “Is it a stupid timing to confess when we’re both probably drunk?” 

His breath hitched at the unexpected response. If Hyungwon thinks he’s a coward behind the alcohol, Kihyun is so much worse. He watched Kihyun circle his index around the rim of the glass before downing again a shot. Perhaps, getting all the confidence he needs from it. 

There was an obvious tension inside the four walls, encapsulating the two of them and Hyungwon could feel it closing onto him to break free. 

_You could always reason out that it’s a drunken mistake._

“You know, they say that drunk words are sober thoughts,” Hyungwon says as a matter of fact, “And you must be the dumbest person to not realise how much I like you.”

Hyungwon knows that his courage is mostly coming from the alcohol because there is no way he could say that he likes Kihyun. 

But he basically just did. 

And now he’s freaking out.

_Fuck._

He looks away, taking a shot from the side, not really wanting to see Kihyun’s reaction. Thinking that he could still possibly be rejected despite all of the hints Kihyun had dropped. To Hyungwon, he still finds it hard to believe that he actually has a chance with Kihyun.

But Kihyun wasn’t having the shy facade as he cups Hyungwon’s face for him to look at Kihyun straight in the eyes, “You’re just as dumb if you didn’t realise that I like you too, Chae,” Kihyun finally replies, “And you’re the dumbest if you thought you had no chance with me.”

All of a sudden, Hyungwon could hear angels singing on the back of his head and Kihyun smiling straight at him had rays of light coming from behind. Everything felt surreal the moment Kihyun mouthed the words _I like you_ as if it was meant for Hyungwon to be heard.

“You’re drunk,” says Hyungwon, still in disbelief, facing the worst case of denial.

“I thought we’ve established that drunk words are sober thoughts.”

“You’re not shitting me, right?”

Kihyun lightly slapped Hyungwon’s cheeks, “You’re making me rethink why I like you.”

“Listen, I just can’t believe you like me.”

“Neither can I but here I am trying to establish it with you,” Kihyun huffs, completely done with the not so understandable conversation they were having, “I like you. You like me. Are we fucking dating or not?”

Hyungwon, who was done teasing Kihyun, finally holds Kihyun’s hand, “Don’t you think we need to go out for lunch first so that Minhyuk would think we’re on a date but really we are?”

“You are annoying.”

“You like me though,” Hyungwon proudly says, “And there goes the feelings that had finally escaped.”

* * *

[Footnote: Hyungwon and Kihyun actually ended up going out on a date the next day with an angry Minhyuk on the side asking _Why didn’t you call me? Are you two on a date?_ And them just casually answering with a yes, spending the rest of the date with genuine feelings and kisses. Lots of them.] 


End file.
